:** This is not settable via the DB properties. To set READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT, there must be no active connections to the database except for the connection executing the ALTER command. If you are viewing the DB in the Server Management Studio, disconnect from any servers in the "Object Explorer" (right-click > Disconnect), then create a "New Query" and run the ALTER command. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb522682.aspx for details.

+

:** If your DB name starts with a number, you may need to put quotes around the DB name in the query.

5. Get PHP installed with a web server. Unless you want to do it under IIS or some other way, the packages on the [http://download.moodle.org Moodle download page] are a good solution.

5. Get PHP installed with a web server. Unless you want to do it under IIS or some other way, the packages on the [http://download.moodle.org Moodle download page] are a good solution.

Line 35:

Line 38:

:* mssql.textlimit = 20971520

:* mssql.textlimit = 20971520

:* mssql.textsize = 20971520

:* mssql.textsize = 20971520

−

:Also, don't forget to set one of the following '''alternatives''', in order to get all the data properly "slashed":

−

:* magic_quotes_gpc = Off '''or'''

−

:* magic_quotes_gpc = On '''and''' magic_quotes_sybase = On

8. With all this properly configured, you can continue with a [[Installing Moodle|standard Moodle installation]].

8. With all this properly configured, you can continue with a [[Installing Moodle|standard Moodle installation]].

+

+

== Microsoft Drivers for SQL Server for PHP ==

+

+

In July 2008 Microsoft [http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/sqldriverforphp/thread/a10e5202-9e41-4ff8-a33e-fbcc7b951be2/ released] a new SQL Server Driver for PHP. This is a PHP extension that allows PHP scripts to read and write data on Microsoft SQL Server databases and it overcomes the problems with the native SQL Server extension that was previously bundled with PHP.

+

+

When using [[IIS]] it is strongly recommended to use the official Microsoft PHP installer from http://php.iis.net/, it should include the latest version of necessary drivers and it also simplifies future upgrades and configuration.

+

+

For Windows servers with [[Apache]] see http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20098.

| colspan="4" | Thanks to [http://remote-learner.net/ Remote-Learner]] (Moodle [http://moodle.com/partners/ Partner]) and specially to Bryan Williams, donating one Visual C++ 6.0 Pro license to Moodle. Thanks to Trevor Johnson and his builds of the dblib extensions. Thanks to Daniele, Doug, Luis, Sean and many others by their collaboration in MDL-14725. Thanks to Frediano Ziglio and James K. Lowden from [http://freetds.org freetds.org] by their support. Thanks to Alastair Hole by providing the PHP 5.3 builds of the libraries. Thanks!

| colspan="4" | Thanks to [http://remote-learner.net/ Remote-Learner]] (Moodle [http://moodle.com/partners/ Partner]) and specially to Bryan Williams, donating one Visual C++ 6.0 Pro license to Moodle. Thanks to Trevor Johnson and his builds of the dblib extensions. Thanks to Daniele, Doug, Luis, Sean and many others by their collaboration in MDL-14725. Thanks to Frediano Ziglio and James K. Lowden from [http://freetds.org freetds.org] by their support. Thanks to [[User:Alastair Hole|Alastair Hole]] for providing the PHP 5.3 builds of the libraries. Thanks to Enyby by providing the PHP 5.4 builds of the libraries. Thanks to David Aylmer for providing the PHP 5.5 builds of the libraries. Thanks!

|}

|}

Line 116:

Line 132:

<code php>

<code php>

−

$CFG->dbtype = 'mssql_n'; // Required

+

$CFG->dbtype = 'mssql'; // Required

$CFG->dbhost = 'localhost'; // assuming MS SQL is on the same server, otherwise use an IP

$CFG->dbhost = 'localhost'; // assuming MS SQL is on the same server, otherwise use an IP

$CFG->dbname = 'moodle'; // or whatever you called the database you created

$CFG->dbname = 'moodle'; // or whatever you called the database you created

Line 152:

Line 168:

*check that you have DotNet framework 1.1 installed (later version are installed on Vista, but you could need this specific one)<br />

*check that you have DotNet framework 1.1 installed (later version are installed on Vista, but you could need this specific one)<br />

*if you are using SQL Server 2005 and you have the error ''4004: Unicode data in a Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier'', try the ODBTP method (next chapter). The SQL Server complaining that it doesn't support pure Unicode via TDS or older versions of ODBC. Microsoft has deprecated DB-Library a long ago, in favor of ODBC, OLE DB, or SQL Native Client. Many new features of SQL 2005 aren't accessible via DB-Library so if you need them, you could have to switch away from tools based on TDS and DB-Library :(

*if you are using SQL Server 2005 and you have the error ''4004: Unicode data in a Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier'', try the ODBTP method (next chapter). The SQL Server complaining that it doesn't support pure Unicode via TDS or older versions of ODBC. Microsoft has deprecated DB-Library a long ago, in favor of ODBC, OLE DB, or SQL Native Client. Many new features of SQL 2005 aren't accessible via DB-Library so if you need them, you could have to switch away from tools based on TDS and DB-Library :(

−

== Using FreeTDS on Ubuntu by compiling an mssql.so extension ==

+

== FreeTDS on Linux (on Ubuntu by compiling an mssql.so extension) ==

−

This is a good read to [http://www.robert-gonzalez.com/2009/02/18/building-the-php-ms-sql-server-extension-from-source-on-ubuntu-810/ building a FreeTDS based mssql extension for apache on Ubuntu].

+

This is a good read to [http://www.robert-gonzalez.com/2009/02/18/building-the-php-ms-sql-server-extension-from-source-on-ubuntu-810/ building a FreeTDS based mssql extension for apache on Ubuntu]. Do note that [http://www.freetds.org/news.html freeTDS] 0.91 was recently released, you can find latest versions [http://freetds.sourceforge.net/ here].

+

+

Note: the freetds.conf file you use should have "text size = 20971520" as mentioned in the FreeTDS on Windows section otherwise you might see sessions logging out or worse apache segmentation faults. Also see [[FreeTDS]].

+

+

Note2: Please note that updating php tends to remove the freetds configurations. You might need to reconfigure freetds after an upgrade.

== Using FreeTDS on Debian Lenny ==

== Using FreeTDS on Debian Lenny ==

Line 163:

Line 184:

<pre>apt-get install libsybdb5 freetds-common php5-sybase

<pre>apt-get install libsybdb5 freetds-common php5-sybase

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart</pre>

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart</pre>

+

At the end of the process, if all goes fine, you will find in the mssql section of phpinfo();

−

== Using ODBTP on Unix or Windows ==

+

{| class="nicetable"

−

+

|-

−

You can download ODBTP from http://odbtp.sourceforge.net/. Also you will access to the documentation from the same page.

+

! MSSQL Support

−

+

! enabled

−

The downloaded package includes both the source code and some binaries to be installed in the server and some ready-to-use '''mssql extension alternatives''' for some platforms/PHP versions (so you won't need to compile it if your PHP server/version binary package is present).

+

|-

−

+

| Library version

−

First of all, we have to install the Win32 service that comes with the package. Let's assume that it's going to run in the same Win32 machine where your MSSQL server is running (although it can run in any other Win32 server in your network).

+

| FreeTDS

−

+

|}

−

To do do, following the instructions present in http://odbtp.sourceforge.net/install.html, you must:

−

−

Do the following on the MSSQL server:

−

# Create a directory on the Windows host where the service program files will reside, i.e., md odbtp.

−

# Copy the files odbtpctl.exe, odbtpsrv.exe and odbtpsrv.ini files from the winservice directory into the directory created in step 1.

−

# Edit the file odbtpsrv.ini of the previous step and this line: <pre>MaxRequestSize=20971520</pre>

−

# Open a command prompt (cmd) window on the Windows host.

−

# Change to the directory to which the service program files were copied, i.e., cd odbtp.

−

# Run the following commands to install and start the service:

−

#* odbtpctl install

−

#* odbtpctl start

−

# With these steps you should have one new service running in your host called "odbtp". Verify it's present and running in the "Services" control panel.

−

# Don't forget to enable TCP/IP incoming connections to port 2799 in the host you have installed the service!

−

−

Now it's time to build the '''mssql extension alternative'''. First of all, verify if, in the downloaded package, under the "php" dir, there is one extension suitable for your PHP server/version. If it's present, you can simply copy it to the php/extensions dir in your PHP server and skip next points about compiling it from source. It's important to point that, inside each directory, you'll find '''two different''' libraries/dll files. The one that must be copied to the extensions dir is the one called '''"php_odbtp_mssql.xxx"'''!

−

−

If in the downloaded package isn't present the extension matching your PHP platform/version, you should build if from source files. To do that, just '''"configure, make, make install"'''. That will create some stuff under "/usr/local".

−

−

Now that you've successfully built ODBTP is time to create the '''mssql extension alternative''' that will provide us with the capacity of handling MSSQL DBs from within Moodle. To do so, just configure your PHP server adding this new option to the usual ones:

−

−

--with-odbtp-mssql

−

−

then, after the standard "make and make install" steps, your PHP server will be built with MSSQL support provided by ODBTP.

−

−

Do the following on the moodle webserver:

−

Finally, independently if we are using the binary extension provided in the download or if you have built it from source files, it's time to configure the extension.

−

1. To do so, add this lines, if no present, to your php.ini file:

−

−

extension=php_odbtp_mssql.dll

−

−

(only for Win32 PHP servers!)

−

−

2. And, for all the server platforms:

−

−

[odbtp]

−

odbtp.interface_file = "/path/to/your/odbtp.conf"

−

odbtp.datetime_format = mdyhmsf

−

odbtp.detach_default_queries = yes

−

−

(where ''"/path/to/your/odbtp.conf"'' is usually '''"/usr/local/etc/odbtp.conf"''' for Unix systems and '''"C:\odbtp\odbtp.conf"''' for Windows systems)

With this, your PHP server will be able to connect with the MSSQL DB server using ODBTP. From here, just continue with the installation.

−

−

Finally, if you find the ODBTP executables and '''mssql extension alternative''' in binary formats, it only will be necessary to install them in your server (binary packages...) without the need to recompile anything (just the php.ini and odbtp.conf edition steps above will be necessary). Of course, it will be really welcome to have all those binary alternatives documented here.

−

−

Once ODBTP is working, Moodle config.php should include lines like these:

−

−

<code php>

−

$CFG->dbtype = 'mssql_n'; // Required

−

$CFG->dbhost = 'localhost'; // assuming MS SQL is on the same server, otherwise use an IP

−

$CFG->dbname = 'moodle'; // or whatever you called the database you created

−

$CFG->dbuser = 'yourusername'; // I usually use the 'sa' account (dbowner perms are enough)

−

$CFG->dbpass = 'yourpassword';

−

$CFG->dbpersist = false;

−

$CFG->prefix = 'mdl_'; //Prefix, you can change it, but NEVER leave it blank.

−

</code>

−

−

If you don't have a config.php file yet, it can be generated as normal from the Moodle installer.

−

−

== Using ODBC on Windows ==

−

[[ODBC]] allows communication with an SQL database.

−

{{Not for production sites}}

−

−

1. Go to the '''Administrative Tools''' control panel, then the '''Data Sources (ODBC)''' panel.

−

−

2. Configure one new System/User DSN (call it, for example "moodle"). Dont forget to enable these options if the driver asks for them:

−

−

:* ANSI NULLS Enabled = true

−

:* Quoted Identifiers Enabled = true

−

−

3. Your Moodle config.php should include lines like these:

−

−

<code php>

−

$CFG->dbtype = 'odbc_mssql'; // Note this is different to all the other configs on this page!

−

$CFG->dbhost = 'moodle'; // Where this matches the Data source name you chose above

−

$CFG->dbname = ''; // Keep it blank!!

−

$CFG->dbuser = 'yourusername'; // I usually use the 'sa' account (dbowner perms are enough)

−

$CFG->dbpass = 'yourpassword';

−

$CFG->dbpersist = false;

−

$CFG->prefix = 'mdl_'; //Prefix, you can change it, but NEVER leave it blank.

−

</code>

−

−

4. Install Moodle as usual. Good luck!

−

−

== Using the SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP from Microsoft ==

−

In July 2008 Microsoft [http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/sqldriverforphp/thread/a10e5202-9e41-4ff8-a33e-fbcc7b951be2/ released] their new SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP. It is a PHP extension that allows for the reading and writing of SQL Server data from within PHP scripts. However there are some limitations with this driver that make it incompatible with Moodle, e.g.:

−

−

* limitations with how it handles UTF-8 strings and

−

* it does not support the legacy mssql php driver function names

−

−

For more info see MDL-16497 and MDL-15093.

−

So, for now, you should not use this driver with Moodle 1.9.

+

Once FreeTDS is correctly installed, don not forget to set it up following explanations in https://docs.moodle.org/en/FreeTDS

== See Also ==

== See Also ==

−

* [[Installing Moodle]]

+

* FreeTDS for Windows is obsolete and too slow as of 2011. See: [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=183987 Hardware and Performance Forum]

Introduction

This short manual is suitable if you are trying to run Moodle using the SQL*Server (MSSQL) RDBMS. Steps detailed below must be performed before installing Moodle itself.

Some of this may also apply if you wish to access an MSSQL server for external db authentication/enrollment.

First of all, minimum required version of MSSQL has been stabilised to MSSQL 2005 (v.9), although it might work with MSSQL 2000 (v.8) or newer. All the development process has been performed using MSSQL 2005 and there could be some unknown problems with previous releases.

While PHP comes with one, more or less, standard extension (mssql) that provides access to MSSQL databases, early we found some hard limits on it. Basically such default extension has some limits that prevent us to use it at all (you can find more info about these problems here).

So, in order to allow PHP (i.e. Moodle) to access to MSSQL DBs properly we have to install a mssql extension alternative to save us from the problems related above. See the sections below for details about the various options.

Installation overview

Make sure that you choose mixed authentication (Windows and local accounts) to keep things simpler later. You'll be asked to define the "sa" account password (it's the default System Administrator account which has full access to all databases by default).

You might need to explicitly allow this in your Windows firewall (see the Control Panel). You may also need to edit options in the :SQL Server Configuration Manager -> Network Configuration -> Protocols -> TCP/IP enabled

3. Open the "SQL Server Management Studio" and create a new empty database. If you are using the "sa" account then you don't need to do anything else here.

4. Configure these settings in your created (and still empty) database:
Configure these settings in your created (and still empty) database:

This is not settable via the DB properties. To set READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT, there must be no active connections to the database except for the connection executing the ALTER command. If you are viewing the DB in the Server Management Studio, disconnect from any servers in the "Object Explorer" (right-click > Disconnect), then create a "New Query" and run the ALTER command. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb522682.aspx for details.

If your DB name starts with a number, you may need to put quotes around the DB name in the query.

5. Get PHP installed with a web server. Unless you want to do it under IIS or some other way, the packages on the Moodle download page are a good solution.

6. Choose one of the following specific sections for your server to install the mssql extension alternative installed and running properly on your PHP box.

Microsoft Drivers for SQL Server for PHP

In July 2008 Microsoft released a new SQL Server Driver for PHP. This is a PHP extension that allows PHP scripts to read and write data on Microsoft SQL Server databases and it overcomes the problems with the native SQL Server extension that was previously bundled with PHP.

When using IIS it is strongly recommended to use the official Microsoft PHP installer from http://php.iis.net/, it should include the latest version of necessary drivers and it also simplifies future upgrades and configuration.

Thanks to Remote-Learner] (Moodle Partner) and specially to Bryan Williams, donating one Visual C++ 6.0 Pro license to Moodle. Thanks to Trevor Johnson and his builds of the dblib extensions. Thanks to Daniele, Doug, Luis, Sean and many others by their collaboration in MDL-14725. Thanks to Frediano Ziglio and James K. Lowden from freetds.org by their support. Thanks to Alastair Hole for providing the PHP 5.3 builds of the libraries. Thanks to Enyby by providing the PHP 5.4 builds of the libraries. Thanks to David Aylmer for providing the PHP 5.5 builds of the libraries. Thanks!

Make sure that any lines referring to the php_mssql.dll extension are DISABLED (commented out).

4. When the PHP engine loads the FreeTDS extension it needs to be passed certain infiormation in order to be able to connect to your Moodle database. To retrieve this information FreeTDS looks for a file called freetds.conf in the root folder of the server that PHP installed on (e.g. C:\).

You can configure FreeTDS to look for the freetds.conf file in any directory that you want - you don't have to use C:\. To do this create a SYSTEM environment variable called FREETDS and point it to the directory where you have installed the freetds.conf file. If you do not set this environment variable FreeTDS will look for the freetds.conf file in the C:\ folder, which is the default. One possible benefit of setting the FREETDS environment variable and using a different installation directory for freetds.conf is that C:\ is very predictable to a hacker that knows anything about FreeTDS and that is the first place that he would look if he wanted to compromise your system. So, using a different installation directory would just make your system stronger. See the FreeTDS Setting the environment variables documentation for more information about this FREETDS environment variable.

Alternatively, you can recompile the FreeTDS extension yourself and change the default location to your preferred location at compile time. Then it is not necessary to create any environment variable. You must just ensure that freetds.conf is in the same folder that you specify when you compile php_dblib.dll.

MSSQL is usually installed with port 1433 as the default. However, if the port was changed on your server when you installed MSSQL then you need to specify the correct port number.

5. Your Moodle config.php should include lines like these:

$CFG->dbtype='mssql';// Required$CFG->dbhost='localhost';// assuming MS SQL is on the same server, otherwise use an IP$CFG->dbname='moodle';// or whatever you called the database you created$CFG->dbuser='yourusername';// I usually use the 'sa' account (dbowner perms are enough)$CFG->dbpass='yourpassword';$CFG->dbpersist=false;$CFG->prefix='mdl_';//Prefix, you can change it, but NEVER leave it blank.

If you don't have a config.php file yet, it can be generated as normal from the Moodle installer. Alternatively you can use the config-dist.php file that comes with the Moodle package to create your own config.php file.

6. Restart or start your web server. If Moodle still cannot communicate with the database server, please turn display_startup_errors to "On" in your /PHP/php.ini file, then restart the web server and check for any errors that may indicate incorrect DLL versions or missing dependencies. These error reports, turned off by default in PHP, can be vital in locating a problem with new extension installations.

7. Database conection test, try this PHP script, just put in a text file called test.php change ('localhost', 'db_user', 'db_password') to suite your setup, and load from local host (http://localhost/test.php)...

if you are using SQL Server 2005 and you have the error 4004: Unicode data in a Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier, try the ODBTP method (next chapter). The SQL Server complaining that it doesn't support pure Unicode via TDS or older versions of ODBC. Microsoft has deprecated DB-Library a long ago, in favor of ODBC, OLE DB, or SQL Native Client. Many new features of SQL 2005 aren't accessible via DB-Library so if you need them, you could have to switch away from tools based on TDS and DB-Library :(

FreeTDS on Linux (on Ubuntu by compiling an mssql.so extension)

Note: the freetds.conf file you use should have "text size = 20971520" as mentioned in the FreeTDS on Windows section otherwise you might see sessions logging out or worse apache segmentation faults. Also see FreeTDS.

Note2: Please note that updating php tends to remove the freetds configurations. You might need to reconfigure freetds after an upgrade.